Indoor restaurants may reopen in Michigan from Monday, February 1, however, the restart comes with strict restrictions.
Bars and restaurants are expected to close at 10 pm and are limited to 25% capacity or 100 people – the smaller of the two, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced at a news conference on Friday, January 22.
Michigan restaurants could open at 50% capacity in summer and fall and had no curfew. The indoor restaurant has been closed in Michigan since November 18.
The health order review goes into effect on February 1st and runs through February 21st. Some activities are expected to remain closed, including nightclubs, water parks and some contact sports, the state announced.
Other states have similar curfews in hopes of reducing meetings. Ohio has had a 10 pm curfew at restaurants since November.
Although the ban on dining ends, state leaders are still encouraging take-out, delivery or outdoor dining. Doctors and scientists continue to reiterate that meeting indoors without a mask is one of the easiest ways to spread COVID-19, said Michigan chief physician Dr. Joneigh Khaldun.
“Just because something is open does not mean that it is 100% secure or that you should do this,” said Khaldun. “The safest thing to do is not to eat inside a restaurant.”
Groups like the elderly or people with medical problems should think twice before eating inside a restaurant, Khaldun said.
A look at the updated health application for Michigan, starting February 1.
Michigan restaurant groups have bittersweet feelings about the news – happy with the reopening, but concerned about restrictions.
“Reopening at 25% capacity is a start, but it is not what we expected or what our industry needs at the moment,” said the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association’s executive director, Scott Ellis, in a press release. “Many stores closed because home sales were not enough to keep them open. We fear that a strict capacity limit like this will continue to keep these places closed. “
Recent MLBA research shows that only about two-thirds of bars and restaurants would be willing to reopen if capacity limits were set at 25%. While customers are distancing themselves socially, Ellis said companies should be allowed to have more people inside.
“One-size restrictions like that just don’t make sense,” said Ellis. “A cafeteria that serves breakfast has no problem obeying the night curfew, but a sophisticated restaurant in downtown Detroit does, because people don’t usually go there until late at night.”
Friday’s announcement is “delayed news”, said Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association President and CEO Justin Winslow in a press release.
The MRLA wants clear metrics to show when restaurants can open with greater capacity. Winslow also advocates that hospitality workers be promoted in the vaccination queue.
State leaders have focused on three metrics in the past few months when deciding what to open – numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and the percentage of tests that tested positive.
All three have dropped more than half since the ban on dining began.
Since November 18, the average of seven days of cases per day has dropped from 6,900 per day to 1,900 per day. COVID-19-related hospitalizations dropped from about 3,800 to less than 1,900. And the positive percentage rate has dropped from around 13.5% to less than 5%.
When the ban on dinner began, there were 65 active outbreaks connected to bars and restaurants. As of this week, there are seven active outbreaks linked to these facilities.
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